


ataraxia

by s1lvera5hley



Series: Chaos Written From the Abyss [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: (Author Honestly Has No Idea What She's Doing), Accidental Vigilante Midoriya Izuku, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Analyst Midoriya Izuku, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Bully Bakugou Katsuki, Gen, Memory, Midoriya Izuku is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Minor Neglect, Quirk Discrimination (My Hero Academia), Quirkless Discrimination (My Hero Academia), Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Smart Midoriya Izuku, Tags Will Update As This Fic Gets Updated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28687722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s1lvera5hley/pseuds/s1lvera5hley
Summary: "ataraxia: n. a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety; tranquillity."If you had a chance to live another life, would you take it?Midoriya Izuku is Quirkless, no special power about him. Plain-looking, not much to tell about the boy hidden in the back of the classroom... just the way he likes it. Abuse from his classmates has taught Izuku how to keep his head down to not draw attention, memory has taught him how to hide in the shadows; to keep out of sight.Izuku is going to be a hero, if only to prove everyone else wrong about people without superpowers. He's gone up against the Red Death, Drago's Bewilderbeast, and taken down Grimmel with his dragons, for Odin's sake, of course he's gonna prove them all wrong.
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Series: Chaos Written From the Abyss [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097996
Comments: 25
Kudos: 167





	1. Ambivalence

**Author's Note:**

> To start off, I totally blame this one on kermit on Cloud's discord server. I was just rambling about HTTYD on the insomnia-gang channel, and blam, he casually mentioned this and I was hooked!
> 
> (Tbh, half of it was my fault for bringing it up, but I'm placing the majority of the blame on him.😁)
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!!

Midoriya Izuku never expected to be anything more than the worthless Deku that he was.

Why would he? He was Quirkless. Everyone hated, even Kacchan, even the Pro-Hero that- nope, nope, nope. No going there, Izuku.

His father left when he was five - after it was one hundred percent certain that there was no way in hell that Izuku was going to get a quirk - so it was just his Mom, him, and occasionally Kacchan and his parents.

(Not that Kacchan ever paid much attention to him. Usually his childhood friend would just scowl at Izuku, and angrily tap on his phone when they were forced to be in the same room together while their parents hung out in the kitchen and lounge.)

There was nothing special about Izuku. Creepy was a better word to use, especially when it came to his notebooks on other people's quirks.

Sure, Izuku spent a large amount of his time online shifting through forums and getting feedback on his quirk breakdowns, had learnt how to hack through sites from an online friend, and had managed to find his way onto an Underground Pro-Hero chatroom. But those were things that anyone could do. If anything, it added to the creepiness factor of Izuku's.

There was nothing special about Midoriya Izuku.

So why in Thor's name did he end up with memories of another life on his twelfth birthday??

-*-

Hiccup had moved over in his bed, then paused, eyes blinking open vaguely in the slightly lit room.

He half expected Astrid to be next to him, but he came face to face with a wall. Which was strange. Hiccup didn't normally place his bed by a wall unless it was in his personal forge. Even then, he was usually dragged off back home by Astrid before he could even think about sleeping in that bed.

Then he made the extremely wise decision to roll over and see the rest of the room.

Hiccup froze, his eyes widened as he slowly moved into an upright position then internally freaked out as he pulled his legs out from underneath the blankets - that he vaguely recognized as some of _his_ Hero merch - the legs that just so happened to have _both_ feet attached.

"What in Odin's name?" Hiccup murmured, half in a breakdown as he somehow managed to stand upright.

Feeling so wrong as he stumbled to a mirror - he would ponder on how he knew what it was called later - and his jaw dropped when he saw his reflection.

Hiccup clasped a hand over his mouth to at least muffle the scream he would never admit to later. 

His reflection showed someone else entirely. And while it did give reason to _why_ he felt so weird, it still freaked him out.

His hair was _curly_ , and it was _green_ rather than his straight yet slightly messy brown hair, and his beard had gone - that one wasn't as surprising because the twins had been known to shave people's beards off in their sleep occasionally - he had a ton more freckles than he'd had when he had been a teenager, and while Hiccup's now-body was just as skinny and weak as Hiccup's old body used to be before he met Toothless, he could see the beginnings of muscle forming.

His hands were softer too, Hiccup clenched them, looking down at the foreign hands with wide eyes. Small calluses, but nothing like how his hands had been when he was younger.

Hiccup reached up and pulled at the strange hair again, and winced when he pulled too hard, "Definitely not a dream, then," he muttered to himself, taking a look at the clothes he wore instead.

A soft material that Hiccup had no name for - polyester and cotton mix, he vaguely recalled - that had been dyed white. With small black dye forming symbols over his chest. And loose light summer ocean blue pants of similar fabric.

The clothing was weird, and despite Hiccup's (current) body accepting it, he felt as if there were tiny Terrible Terrors climbing all over his skin.

"Izuku, you alright in there?" The sound of a woman's - his mom's - voice made Hiccup jump, eyes widening in panic for a moment as he looked for this "Izuku".

It may or may not have taken him a moment to realise that the woman must've been speaking to him.

"Uh, yeah," Hiccup coughed a moment later, half shocked at the sound of his own voice, "I'm fine. Just getting ready."

"Okay!" The woman called through the door, "Breakfast is ready when you're ready, Izuku."

Hiccup listened to her footsteps moving further away, and focused his attention on his reflection for another moment.

Taking a note of his surroundings, Hiccup ended up wandering over to the desk where he opened up one of the notebooks, "Quirk…" He didn't know how he was able to understand this language because it certainly wasn't Norse.

An idea lit in his head and he groaned unconsciously, "School," he muttered before pausing.

School… like a dragon school? 

He tried to recall a school, but all he could remember were glaring red eyes and sneering smirks. Hiccup ran his hands through the curly green hair and hesitated.

What was the name that woman called him again? Isamu? No. Isisah? No… Izuku? Yeah, that would've been the one.

Hiccup muttered the name under his breath, "Izuku, Izuku, Izuku," and wondered why it felt so _right_ to him.

He closed his eyes as he tried to remember, Hiccup knew that there was something off about this entire thing. It definitely wasn't a Quirk that had hit him, did the Gods decide to toy with his life (again)?

No, that wasn't right either. _Remember… remember.. remember…_

Hiccup opened his eyes as he realized, it was _Memory_ that he was missing as a factor here. If Hiccup really was _Izuku_ , then it would mean that something would've happened to cause the shift.

Memory explained it. There had been whispered rumors of reincarnation in Berk while Hiccup had been growing up, tales of children who had seen the horrors of war before even seeing sight of a single dragon, and while Hiccup had dismissed them back then, it was the only thing that made sense now.

If this whole thing was tied to _memory_ then it would be easily proven by the fact that Hiccup was here. Hiccup's memories could have overwhelmed Izuku's, and easily rewritten who Izuku is as a person.

But, if this was a quirk - which Hiccup didn't think it could be - there had to be some sort of safeguard for Izuku's memories. Like a keyword or something.

Hiccup sighed, looking back down at the notebooks spread out on the desk, and picking up one that looked like it had been hit by a Terrible Terrors' small flame.

The handwriting on the paper was just as messy as his got when busy entranced in a project, but Hiccup found that he could read it just as easily as his own handwriting.

He flipped through the pages, hoping for something - _anything_ \- to at least _trigger_ a memory. There were mostly descriptions of quirks belonging to people Izuku must've known, as he'd written down their names, compared to the Pro-Hero ones.

Hiccup paused at the back of the book, three sets of pages given to someone called "Kacchan" - angry red eyes, clenched, popping fists - and as he was reading what was written in the columns of the pages, Hiccup found himself pitying this Izuku.

Half the notes were written in a blind hero-worship, but even then, Hiccup could see how Izuku had broken down and suggested ways to build the quirk back up to be better.

His fingers trailed over a word that took a moment for him to read, as if his body was fighting his will to read it.

" **_DEKU_ **". The word was written heavily in the margins, and usually followed by a small ramble how "Kacchan" was so much cooler than "Deku".

"Deku, huh," Hiccup muttered, and for some reason the word felt so _wrong_ yet so _right_ at the same time.

He wondered why "deku" was so important, but when he glanced at the student ID sitting on the edge of the desk, it clicked.

The written form of Izuku's name looked similar to the written form of "deku", meaning that someone had most likely misread the name, and it either stayed as a nickname, or it was used as… as a target for bullies.

Deku, deku, deku… Hiccup’s hands shot up to his head as memories pained his skull, _explosions, more explosions, QuirklessQuirklessQuirkless, Worthlessdeku, nousetoscoiety, weak, pathetic-_

 _Gods,_ no wonder he was such a mess of a human. Hiccup-Izuku let out a pitiful whine as the impact of both lives’ memories were forced upon him to relive.

 _Dragons_ **Quirks** _Dragons_ **Quirks** _Dragons_ -

“Izuku?”

Green curls bounced as his head jerked towards the bedroom door, “Mom?” his voice cracked slightly.

“Izu, honey,” His mom opened the door, and her own green locks appeared with her worried face, “Are you sure you’re alright? Do you need to take the day off school?”

“No, no, no!” Izuku-Hiccup shook his head, waving his hands frantically at his mom, “I’m good, just running through notes for today’s test-” he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck, “-sorry, Mom.”

His mom just smiled, shaking her head, "Alright then, breakfast is on the table, Izu."

He gave her a nod and she smiled at him before ducking out of his room, and Izuku was back to half-freaking out again.

It made no sense, Izuku didn't _have_ a quirk. There was no way in Hel that Izuku could even _get_ a quirk, even if he was a late-bloomer. His dad had paid for all of the tests while he was still living with them all those years ago.

So why the Hel could Izuku remember being Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third???


	2. Sonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Give a green-bean a little boost in confidence, why don't you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the tropes that I love.

His mom’s cooking was as fantastic as always. But Izuku found himself struggling with the sweetness of the pancakes that she’d made, and chewing down the normally delicious breakfast.

Izuku _knows_ that there’s nothing wrong with the food, or his body, it’s his _memories_ that are affecting him this moment. While Izuku’s memories of being Hiccup have given him a confidence burst - his mom had given him a surprised look when he’d left his room, and commented on it - he felt strange in his own body now.

Izuku had felt Hiccup’s loss of his foot in the memories, and since coming out of his room, found it disconnecting to _feel_ his foot there there used to be a Prosthetic. There was also the expectancy that he’d see Astrid sitting somewhere with her axe that she’d taken so much care of over the years. The shock of seeing normal everyday objects such as the TV, or the fridge startled Izuku for a moment when he first saw them, as if the memories of Hiccup himself were surprised.

Heading to school was worse.

Izuku kept noticing the smallest details about the place he’d grown up in, grimacing and wincing at the smell in the air, which, compared to the air Hiccup-Izuku could remember breathing, it tasted vile. 

Hiccup-Izuku couldn’t see anyone enjoying living here, let alone _having_ to live here (Hiccup could barely figure out how Izuku had managed to live in this toxic environment for his whole life). It made Hiccup-Izuku glad that the dragons had retreated back to the Hidden World all those years ago. He wouldn't wish for Toothless and his family to be subjected to this world.

His heart arched at the thought of his best friend, even if Hiccup hadn't seen the Night Fury in decades before he died, even if Izuku knew that he had never gotten the chance himself to see the Night Fury.

The cars that passed Hiccup-Izuku made him jump occasionally, eyes widening in surprise before he ran through how they worked in his head, letting Izuku-Hiccup relax as his mind rambled.

Entering the school gates was worse. Every instinct from Hiccup's memories demanded that Izuku straighten up and walk with the pride of being a chief's son, but everything in Izuku's Mind, body, and heart screamed at him to make himself smaller, try to be less of a target than he already was.

Izuku was glad that there was no incident on his way to class. His desk was even marginally cleaner than normal! Even if he had to still clean off the words written in black marker, and there wasn't much that he could do to the words _carved_ into the wood, 

Hiccup's influence raged at Izuku's classmates while he tried to keep the rage settled in his chest.

Righteous anger that Izuku hadn't felt in years made him clench his fingers into the palms of his hands to ground himself. He closed his eyes as his classmates tricked in, trying to focus on Hiccup's happy memories of flying Toothless as a couple classmates shoved his desk, slammed their shoulders into his, and laughed at him.

The teacher came in, ignored his classmates behavior towards him, and started the lesson.

The whole time, Izuku just scribbled away in his notebook, half paying attention to the lesson, the teacher and his classmates, half day-dreaming his way through HiccIp's memories, writing down occasional Quirk Analysis add-ons, drawing dragons in his notebook from memory, and just generally trying to avoid everything.

When the bell rang, Hiccup-Izuku jumped in surprise, but Izuku-Hiccup grabbed his stuff and ran as soon as he could.

Abuse from his classmates has taught Izuku how to keep his head down to not draw attention, memory has taught him how to hide in the shadows; to keep out of sight.

Dragons are- _were_ dangerous creatures, one wrong move could set them off. It's the same with Izuku's classmates. While Hiccup was the son of the chief of Berk, Izuku was just the plain quirkless kid that no one cared about. His worth was zero compared to Hiccup's worth before he died.

That was just simple facts.

(Not once did Izuku-Hiccup stop to consider his worth now that he had Hiccup's memories with him.)

"Deku!"

Izuku-Hiccup flinched at the _name_ and only tried to flee faster - _runtweakwothless_ \- but inevitably was forced to stop when warning pops were shoved onto Izuku-Hiccup's shoulder.

"Kacchan-" Izuku was cut off by a small explosion that he only took a moment to marvel at the amount of control Bakugo must've trained himself to have, before being forced to look into burning red eyes.

Hiccup-Izuku could compare the rage in them to the same rage that Snotlout used to have when Hiccup (finally) took his place as heir of Berk, in his own way with the Dragons. Or how jealous Snotlout looked occasionally when he glanced at Hiccup and Toothless together.

Izuku-Hiccup's eyes widened in realization, not paying attention to Bakugo as the blond spat at him.

Bakugou was _jealous_ of him? Why? Bakugo had a Quirk, Bakugo was so much more useful to the world. Bakugo was going to be a hero, so why? What is there to be jealous of Izuku for?

"-listening to me, haaaaah?!?!"

Oh, right. Bakugo's talking. Izuku-Hiccup winced. _Whoops_.

(Of course, this was thought sarcastically. How else would Hiccup-Izuku think it?)

"Sorry, Kacchan," Izuku apologized quietly, gritting his teeth as crackles torched his shoulder this time.

"Tch," Bakugo scowled, turning away, "Useless Deku."

Hiccup's memories of all the names the Berkians called him behind his and his father's backs played through his mind. _Runt, weakling, worthless, useless, mistake_ …

"Don't call me that."

The words just came out on their own, and Izuku instantly covered his mouth as his, and everybody else's, eyes widened.

Bakugo had stilled, fists clenching at his sides, and Izuku-Hiccup's body tensed as the blond slowly turned to face him. Pure unbridled fury that Izuku had never seen before.

"What. Did. You. Say. Shitty. Deku!?" Bakugo snarled, spit almost hitting Izuku-Hiccup as the explosive boy stormed towards him again.

A courage that Izuku knew only came from Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk, Rider and Partner of the Night Fury Alpha, defeated of Dragon Hunters, the Red Death, Drago's Bewilderbeast, and taken down Grimmel and his dragons, a courage that Izuku had no right to. A courage that made Izuku straighten his back, let his shoulders move back slightly into a confident stance, feet moving apart, and arms crossing over his chest as he raised an eyebrow at Bakugo.

"I _said:_ Don't call me that," Izuku rolled his eyes, "What? Have you finally started going deaf after all these years Bakugo-" whispers started at his use of Bakugo's family name, "-if so, my apologies, but you have no right to call me that. We're not friends, you're just a bully."

Bakugo's glare had only grown darker, even if he too had spluttered at the use of his family name, "Deku-"

"My name is H- Midoriya, Bakugo," Izuku interrupted, hoping that no one caught his almost slip, "You'd be best to start calling me that-" he paused to allow his eyes to cooly gaze at their classmates who mostly looked sheepish, but quite a few people looked angry, "-same goes for all you. Just because I'm quirkless does _not_ mean useless."

His mind ran over all the statistics of Quirkless people, mainly the suicides that were _encouraged_ by Quirked people. 

"Why should we listen to you!?"

"Yeah!"

Izuku would've backed down immediately, but Hiccup's memories of what it had been like _before_ Toothless came to mind( _and it was so much like what his own life had been until now_ ), and Izuku knows that he doesn't want to live that again.

"Why should you call me by my name?" Izuku paused (dramatically), placing a hand on his chin as if in thought, "I don't know… maybe because it's what any decent human being would do? It's what someone who is aiming to be a hero should do?"

Izuku rolled his eyes as Bakugo stood shock-still, obviously understanding the second one to be aimed at him, and Izuku walked away from the crowd that had gathered, ignoring the confused whispers as he escaped to the rooftop for the break.

(Izuku had a panic-attack later, freaking out about the whole incident. Wondering where the Hel he'd gotten the confidence to stand up to Bakugo of all people??)

(Even if it had turned out to be something good, as no one called him "deku" except for Bakugo, but when Izuku gave him a sharp glare, the blond corrected himself with an "Izuku", which Izuku guessed that he could accept, "Midoriya" probably reminded Bakugo of Izuku's mom (and, maybe Izuku's dad).)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry of how slow this is going so far, I'm trying to figure out how this story's gonna go, but I especially wanted to add Izuku "snapping" at his classmates and Bakugo.


	3. Yonderly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much happens in this, but I'm super sorry for the wait. I just got in a creative funk.

News of Izuku's standing against Bakugo had spread across the school easily during the period after break. 

Izuku ignored the stares with Hiccup's practice, focusing on his classwork, and when he ran out of given work to do, he moved onto recreating some of Hiccup's designs from the past. Altering them for the current materials that people had in this day and age.

(While Izuku may not be able to recreate Hiccup's dragon-scale armour or his sword that used Nightmare gel and Zippleback gas (and the sparks needed to ignite the gas), he could use alternate materials to create the same effect.)

Normal gas would work just fine for the sword, he might have to take apart a lighter for the spark, but Nightmare Gel would be slightly harder to replace. He’d probably have to find - or create - a chemical that stayed solid but burnt when he made the spark.

If he could get his hands on a bunch of molybdenum titanium, the metal would be able to withstand most of the heat from the blade itself, and if he-

Someone hissed at him to be quiet, and Izuku shut his mouth, not letting the embarrassment of his mumbles being heard get to him. 

(In fact, if he had looked up to see the expressions on his classmates’ faces, then he would’ve undoubtedly seen fear and horror on their faces as they had just listened to him mumble about creating a sword that could be lit on fire.)

Izuku kept his right hand on his jaw so that he wouldn’t mumble - as much - and used his left to scribble away.

He was going to need a long-distance weapon, bows wouldn’t work, knives maybe for mid-long distance, a gun perhaps? If he - somehow - got a gun, then he’d definitely modify the _fudge_ out of it. 

He absent-mindedly itched at his prosthetic, then paused when Izuku remembered that he _didn’t have_ a prosthetic. His leg tingled slightly as he closed his eyes to remember the feeling of Hiccup’s prosthetic, then he breathed out before getting back to work.

That’s pretty much how the rest of his day went. Doing classwork, then moving onto his own projects. And when the final bell ran, Izuku packed up his stuff and scattered before anyone else had left their seats.

Izuku didn’t bother going back to the empty house that he knew his mother wouldn’t be in, choosing, instead, to head towards the giant dump beach, Takoba Municipal Beach Park. It wasn’t on his way home, and Izuku barely headed that far from his neighbourhood unless he’d caught news of a Hero-Villain fight on his way home, 

He probably wouldn't end up leaving until he really had to. Hiccup-Izuku already had a bunch of ideas, and from memory, knew that there would be endless amounts of metal hidden under all the trash. And because of the sheer height of the rubbish on the beach, he could get away with making a fire to bend or melt the metal for his projects.

The stench from the rubbish made Hiccup-Izuku grimace for a moment - way worse than dragon dung - before he tugged off his gakuran's top and tied it around his face to at least keep some of the stench from reaching his nose.

And he got to work.

Occasionally when Izuku came across certain tougher patches of rubbish, he'd turn and go to ask Toothless for help, then Hiccup would freeze and panic for a moment before Izuku shoved it down, sadness lingering in his chest as he forced himself to keep working.

It was strange. Yesterday Izuku would never have felt like this - ~~_aching pain in his chest_~~ \- to another being.

The only being that Izuku would think that he'd have this sort of emotional connection with would be his mother - ~~and maybe Katsuki once upon a time before _everything_~~ \- and to think that Izuku's relationship with his mother paled in comparison to Hiccup's relationship with Toothless. It was shocking, but yet not at the same time.

How the Berkian Berserkers had treated Hiccup before the Red Queen's death was pretty similar to how everyone around Izuku treated him.

(Although, it was more on an extreme level when it came to his classmates. Snotlout and the twins might've been harsher on him than Fishlegs or some of the other kids when they were younger, their actions and behaviour were nothing in comparison to Izuku's classmates.)

It took him a great chunk of time to find some of the metal and by the time Izuku realized that it was getting too late, it was almost seven o'clock.

He'd hurriedly covered his pile of metal with other rubbish so that no one else would steal it before he would be able to come back.

Happy with his work, Izuku quickly made his way out of the trash beach and only just managed to catch the train back to his neighbourhood before it left.

He got strange looks for his messy uniform, and how much he stank, but Hiccup-Izuku barely cared as he scribbled more details down in his notebook. Izuku-Hiccup already had plenty of ideas of different equipment that he'd need to build to counter certain quirks, and despite knowing that there would be quirks he simply _could not_ counter, Izuku wanted to be ready for almost everything that would be thrown at him.

His station was announced, which was the only thing that alerted Izuku that he was almost home. Otherwise, he would have stayed on the train for much longer.

Thankfully, Izuku-Hiccup didn't see Katsuki on his way home. ~~_Burn scars from explosions itching under his gakuran-_~~

Izuku's mother wasn't home, so he quickly swapped out of his gakuran, put it on to wash in the washing machine, had a quick shower to try to get some of the lingering smell off of him, switched into pyjamas before making a quick and easy meal for him to eat.

Too many flavours and spices would make him feel sick, so he stuck to plain foods, rice, some shredded chicken from the night before in a small soup.

He ended up turning on the news while he ate, chopsticks in his right hand while he added shading to the picture of Toothless, Luna, and their kids, Dart, Pouncer and Ruffrunner, the Night-Lights.

Izuku was fascinated at the way he drew them - _all too familiar lines that he’d drawn thousands of times in the past_ \- and how each expression looked on each dragon. 

Toothless looked slightly annoyed as Dart lay on her father’s head, Pouncer was keeping close to his mother and Ruffrunner wasn’t too far between either parent, choosing to stay equal between Toothless and Luna.

(Astrid had ended up naming the Light Fury Luna after Hiccup tried to name her Máni, after the god of the Moon.

His wife had just shaken her head at his terrible naming skills.)

Izuku shut his book and focused on eating his food as he mind-numbingly watched pictures move on the screen of the television. Hiccup's curiosity peaked in his chest as he wondered how exactly the television worked on the inside.

Maybe he could do some research later and pull apart one of the various televisions that he'd seen at the beach. It might help him develop his various projects.

Izuku's mother got home after he had finished his dinner, and had moved to the computer to do research. A fresh notebook on the desk as he switched between writing important factors down, and reading articles/watching videos.

His mother was obviously too tired from work to really care was her - ~~_Quirkles, Useless, Weak, Pathetic_~~ \- son was doing.

He welcomed her back home, and all she did was press a kiss to his hair before warily heading down the hallway to her room.

Izuku didn't bother feeling hurt at his mother's lack of reaction to him. If he wasn't being ignored, then he was being beaten up. If his mother didn't ignore him, how worse would his life get?

He didn't want to tempt fate.

"Time to shut off," He mumbled to himself after a while of seemingly endless research.

Izuku grabbed his notebook and somehow made it to his room where he crashed on his bed. He was taken by the grasps of sleep quickly, too tired from the day's events to bother with much else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See ya'll next time.


	4. Cynefin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a year passes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, hey! Look! It's another chapter!

The first time Izuku-Hiccup accidentally _technically_ broke the law was when he was walking home from the beach/dump one evening.

He hadn't meant to _technically_ break the law - despite being Quirkless and effectively having immunity from the law because of his lack of Quirk - but, Izuku-Hiccup couldn't just _let_ that man attack the pair of girls also walking home.

In either life, he'd never been physically strong in a buff sort of way, but Izuku knew physics and with Hiccup's experience _with_ physics themselves, he had a pretty good idea how to angle a piece of metal at the right degree to knock the man out safely.

Hiccup-Izuku made sure to catch the adult male, and gently rest him on the ground before Izuku-Hiccup made sure that the girls were okay, forgetting that he had his goggles on, and his bandana over his mouth.

Thus the accidental beginning of his career in crime-fighting "illegally".

And it wasn’t as if Izuku-Hiccup _meant_ to keep doing it. He just ended up jumping in to help before he could even think about running away, and if things got too bad he knew that he could rely on Hiccup's memories to guide him through some of the fights.

(Apparently fighting dragon-hunters back then was more than enough for Hiccup to have to learn how to fight physically, especially when Toothless wasn't there to back him up.)

Izuku was always best at pivoting on his right leg, mainly because of Hiccup's loss of his left one, but with the memories of the former Chief, Izuku found it easy to use both hands in combat and ordinary life. Hiccup had been left-handed, Izuku was right-handed. Izuku hadn’t even noticed that he was switching between hands until his Mother pointed it out during dinner when he was eating and writing at the same time.

Cue the surprise, and then a made-up fib that Hiccup-Izuku winced at, but Izuku-Hiccup knew that his mother would let it slide.

~~Like with everything else going on his _weak, pathetic, Quirkless life._ ~~

After a few weeks of the _technically_ illegal work, Izuku found out that people had started calling him Knockout, or K.O. for short. Simply because he took down the criminals before they could do anything too bad, and usually too quickly for the criminals to notice him until it was too late.

And Izuku got to hear about himself at school.

The other kids didn't talk to him, and if they did happen to chance a look towards Izuku-Hiccup, then they'd flinch and look away. But there was so much gossip and chatter that happened around him that Hiccup-Izuku didn't care for the reactions of his classmates to his presence.

K.O. was apparently known for his always changing outfit and weapons, while always having the same bright red shoes.

Nowadays, not too many people knew what the shoes meant. But people who knew people like Izuku probably could figure out what the bright red shoes meant.

Quirkless. Jointed toe.

Surprisingly none of his classmates had caught onto that fact quite yet. And Izuku was happy about that. He didn't _want_ or _need_ the attention when he was just doing what was right. Izuku-Hiccup usually only ended up helping when they came across the crimes while wandering to get out of the apartment that he and his Mother lived in.

(Lived in. Not home. Lived in.

Hiccup had a home once upon a time, and so did Izuku… before the Quirklessness came into his life.)

Izuku didn't get the chance to construct Hiccup's sword until he'd managed to make the sword itself over a weekend that he spent at the beach.

He'd probably need to upgrade it to a higher standard of metal later on, but for now, this was all he needed. Especially since it could shrink down. He could carry it everywhere with him.

~~(If people started talking about Knockout appearing with a sword that could light on fire, well, Izuku just wouldn't use his sword until he needed it.)~~

His mother was always busy working, so while Izuku guessed that she might have some sort of idea of what he was up to during the evenings, she didn't actually have proof of it.

Izuku was usually too busy in the short time that they had together in the evenings to converse with his Mother when she got home from work, and in the mornings before school and work, Izuku was too disoriented by the dream-memories that he had while sleeping to be his Mother's son.

( _"You didn't have to do this," a female voice teased by his ear._

 _He chuckled, "What? Make breakfast for my wife? The same woman who put up with my bullshit over the years?" He twisted his head to meet grey-blue eyes, "Of course I'd do this."_ )

And Izuku still found himself searching for people, and beings, that weren't there anymore.

By the time his thirteenth birthday rolled around, Izuku-Hiccup hadn't had a single beating from his classmates - _~~abusers~~ , ~~bullies~~ _ \- in just about a year.

Yuuei entrance exam would be happening in two years, but Izuku was stuck between _wanting_ to go into Heroics and knowing how much good he could possibly do in Management or Support.

If Hiccup still lived, but in this day and age, Izuku knew that the Viking would've been a great scientist or architect.

Before gaining the former chief's memories, Izuku knew for certain that he wanted to go into the Heroics. Now? With his room filled with "junk" that he'd made, notebooks scattered everywhere with various projects in them, a large amount were still part of his Hero analysis, pens and pencils hidden in corners of his room, and his mostly clean clothes in his wardrobe… Izuku wasn't sure if he wanted to keep loving like this, or change.

Change.

What a funny word.

Izuku found himself pondering over the word sometimes, wondering if he hadn't gotten Hiccup's memories, what would have happened?

He had muscle mass now, from all the work he did at the beach, but was still lean enough for running. Izuku had trimmed back his hair slightly, learning how to keep his wild curls from getting too messy. He didn't hide the various scars on his arms during school and caught several of his classmates pointedly ignoring him when he did so.

(Take that, dragon-dug morons!)

Yes, Izuku was _technically_ using psychological attacks against his classmates. Would the - ~~_dumbass idiots_ ~~ \- teachers be able to see or understand this? Probably not.

But, change.

It was defined as an act or process through which something becomes different. A process that makes (someone or something) different; altering or modifying them. Defined as replacing (something) with something else, especially something of the same kind that is newer or better; a substitute one thing for (another).

Was Izuku being substituted? The past Izuku for this Izuku, perhaps, but there must've been a reason he was given the chance to see the world with Hiccup's memories.

Izuku just didn't know why.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the end, thank you for reading this fic idea. 
> 
> (Again, totally blame kermit for this. I am 100% innocent.😇.)
> 
> I have a Discord Server! [Feel free to check it out!](https://discord.com/invite/RF6P7WUv)


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